Public works crews in Manchester are using a snow melter to deal with the several feet of snow that have fallen in the city this month.Click to watch News 9's coverage.Myrtle Street got about 6 feet wider Wednesday after snow was dumped in the melter."We've had a lot of people coming by looking at it, taking pictures," said Department of Public Works foreman Bob Brule.The snow melter was set up at the corner of Elm and Myrtle streets Wednesday. The hum of snow being digested put smiles on faces of fatigued road crews."The sun is out. It's going to be a beautiful day," Brule said.Towering snow banks are being leveled off. The melter is usually anchored at the city's snow dump, but it's now mobile."It saves on time, trucking, manpower," Brule said. "Here we have three men: an operator for the machine, our loader operator and a traffic control guy."Inside the melter are two burners. Crews were using one of the builders Wednesday, saving diesel fuel and money. Running it at full capacity costs about $1,000 per hour, officials said."As the snow goes in, the water melts the snow, and the water table rises," Brule said. "There's a trough on the other side. As the water table gets up to the other side, it dumps down. We have a pipe that goes into a manhole on the other side."DPW crews have been unusually busy this year as storms have pounded the region, dumping several feet of snow in just a few weeks. Officials said that at the garage where the city's vehicles are repaired, mechanics have been working 12-hour shifts.

MANCHESTER, N.H. —

Public works crews in Manchester are using a snow melter to deal with the several feet of snow that have fallen in the city this month.

Myrtle Street got about 6 feet wider Wednesday after snow was dumped in the melter.

"We've had a lot of people coming by looking at it, taking pictures," said Department of Public Works foreman Bob Brule.

The snow melter was set up at the corner of Elm and Myrtle streets Wednesday. The hum of snow being digested put smiles on faces of fatigued road crews.

"The sun is out. It's going to be a beautiful day," Brule said.

Towering snow banks are being leveled off. The melter is usually anchored at the city's snow dump, but it's now mobile.

"It saves on time, trucking, manpower," Brule said. "Here we have three men: an operator for the machine, our loader operator and a traffic control guy."

Inside the melter are two burners. Crews were using one of the builders Wednesday, saving diesel fuel and money. Running it at full capacity costs about $1,000 per hour, officials said.

"As the snow goes in, the water melts the snow, and the water table rises," Brule said. "There's a trough on the other side. As the water table gets up to the other side, it dumps down. We have a pipe that goes into a manhole on the other side."

DPW crews have been unusually busy this year as storms have pounded the region, dumping several feet of snow in just a few weeks. Officials said that at the garage where the city's vehicles are repaired, mechanics have been working 12-hour shifts.